Philippine cinema is looking good these days. During the release of 'Feng Shui' it was apparent that almost everybody wanted to see it, just because local critics and movie-goers were already saying 'it was that good' and YES is was really. Honestly it's the first time in years that I have truly enjoyed watching a local horror film, and a quality Filipino film for that matter.
'Feng Shui' was really able to please its audience. Story-wise I could say it was pretty original, and since it shows Filipinos' undeniable fascination and belief in 'swerte', it was brilliant for the story's writers to come up with one that revolves around whatelse 'Feng Shui'.
It is the story of a middle-age woman, Joy (Kris Aquino) and her battle against the supernatural cycle of luck and bad luck. She has just moved into a new house with her family, as she was hopeful for a new beginning, and a refreshing start to go with their new home, she unexpectedly faces, true enough something new, something she could never expect .
On her way home one day, as she was taking the bus ride, a man left a certain small package on his seat, she picks it up to return it to the said owner. Unable to find the man she decided to bring it home with her a 'bagua' mirror, an item that is placed over the door of one's house, and is believed to drive away bad luck to the people inside the home. True enough, she began to receive good fortune and anything favorable for herself and for her family. But along with those came the unexplained events that disturb her, her friends, and most especially the people she loves.
After watching 'Feng Shui' and from hearing other people's opinion of the movie, I concluded 'may nanood naman (ng Filipino movies) basta maganda ang pagkakagawa'. Ganun kasimple, what we need are quality movies that bear good scripts and story lines. Sobrang important din syempre audio and visuals. I get frustrated at watching a movie with a poor film quality (most Filipino movies are like that sadly), yung tipong sa kalabuan ng picture, nahihirapan ka nang mag concentrate sa story. At sa sobrang labo ng audio Hindi mo na sila maintindihan (at bwisit na dubbings yan). I believe one factor that makes other Asian movies (especially Korean films) more enjoyable to watch is the picture quality of the movies they make. It's actually the first thing that I notice after I hit the play button I have to enjoy the visuals first, since it adds life to what you are watching.
I hear nowadays they have started using the HD technology in film-making ('Santa Santita' to be the first local film to use HD). And I'm sure marami pang ibang movies that will bear much improvement in the coming years. Actually I'm pretty excited with how the Philippine movie industry will be like 2 or 4 years later. I've never really been proud of Philippine movies, but slowly I am beginning to appreciate it as it starts to gain its improvement. Sana.. tuloy-tuloy na 'to!
